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The TACH Report: Cadillac Seville to be Sold in Japan and England, DeTomaso Hot Rods Back in U.S., NHRA Point Standings, LSR Duel in the Desert May be Off

3 September 1997

Cadillac division, GM will debut the all new Seville for 1998 at the Frankfurt Auto Show next week and will start marketing the model in Japan and England. A first for the luxury car division which is 95 years old this year. In a bold move to broaden its sales area globally Cadillacs will be heading for Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Norway and Russia. The front drive Seville goes up against the Lexus LS400, BMW 5 series and Mercedes E class. Prices start at $43,000.

Remember the De Tomaso Mangusta and Pantera? Sleek ahead-of-its-time sports car styling and Ford motors in the rear. The cars that always overheated. Well De Tomaso is back and the new $149,000 2-seater is being imported by British Motors in San Francisco. It is powered by a blown 4.6 liter Ford.

After the U.S. Nationals last weekend the NHRA Winston point standings are


TOP FUEL
1   Gary Scelzi
2   Cory McClenathan
3   Joe Amato
4   Scott Kalitta
5 Kenny Bernstein
                      FUNNY CAR
1   John Force
2   Whit Bazemore
3   Chuck Etchells
4   Tony Pedregon
5   Cruz Pedregon

                            PRO STOCK
1   Jim Yates
2   Warren Johnson
3   Kurt Johnson
4   Bruce Allen
5   Steve Schmidt

Craig Breedlove is ready to take on Land Speed Record holder Richard Noble at the Utah Salt Flats next week but Noble is having trouble landing a sponsor to foot the bill to bring his Thrust SSC to the U.S. to go for the "Duel in the Desert"> He needs $300,000 to make the trip to Black Rock near Reno, Nv. Noble holds the record at 633 mph.

Mo Gugelmins win at Vancouver Sunday was the first for a Brazillian this year. In 1996 Brazilians won three races. Roberto Moreno subbed at Vancouver for the injured Patrick Capenteir and looked good moving into the top 10 until lap 82 when his steering locked up. Carpenteir is in the lead for Rookie of the Year. Jimmy Vasser , 1996 CART champ tapped the wall Sunday while chasing Little Al and then had gearbox problems but still placed second.

On this date in 1954 Juan Manuel Fangio won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza driving a Mercedes Ben W 196 with 280 hp

The money split for the 1997 IROC series is:


Mark Martin        $225,000
Robby Gordon    $ 200,000
Randy LaJoie      $ 60,000
Al Unser Jr          $  50,000
Terry Labonte      $  45,000

American Honda does not want Wayne Huizenga's Republic Industries buying up its car dealerships and has gone to court to put a stop to this activity. The Japanese auto builder seeks an injunction against Republic stating they are violating fair-competition law. Republic owns 145 dealerships.

However Toyota ended its hassle with Republic and will allow the Florida based operation to buy 10-30 more Toyota retailers. A new Lincoln is planned for 1999 and the working title is LS6/LS8. It will be an entry level sedan much like the catera from Cadillac which is made in Germany.

The first quarter nominee for True Value Hardware's Man of the Year award goes to NASCAR ace Kyle Petty for the first-quarter of this year. Petty was given the accolade in recognition of his "Kyle Petty Charity (Motorcycle) Ride Across America." Also in NASCAR all-round racer John Andretti is now hosting a weekly TV series called Kids in Motorsports. It went on the tube in June.

Mazda is pinning its sales hopes for 1998 on an all-new 626 which will be larger and more powerful than the present model. it has no Ford parts and will be ALL Mazda.

Bill Maloney -- The Auto Channel